Beaten England must look into their souls: Cook

Beaten England must look into their souls: Cook

Under-pressure Alastair Cook called on his demoralised England team to search their ‘souls’ after their second straight Ashes Test defeat to Australia on Monday, with the skipper among those conducting the deepest introspection.

England's final four wickets fell within an hour's play on the fifth day at Adelaide Oval, the 218-run defeat completed in cold and gloomy conditions and leaving the tourists 2-0 down in the five-Test series ahead of their most challenging match in Perth.

Few pundits are likely to give England any chance of winning at the WACA, where they haven't beaten Australia in a Test since 1978.

Image: James Anderson of England looks on as Australia celebrate their victoryPhotographs: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Three days to repair team's battered self-belief

As holders, England need only level the series 2-2 to retain the Ashes, but Cook has only three full days to repair his team's battered self-belief after they were comprehensively outpointed in all aspects of the game in both Brisbane and Adelaide.

As in Brisbane, England's batsmen were the most culpable, their first innings 172 in response to Australia's 570-9 declared leaving their bowlers on a hiding to nothing.

Despite their task, England's bowlers failed to extract anywhere near the same venom from Adelaide Oval's drop-in wicket as the hosts, while the tourists' fielding was often abysmal, with dropped catches ultimately costing hundreds of runs.

Image: England captain Alastair Cook lines up with his team after losing the Second Ashes TestPhotographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Tough moments

Cook conceded that berating his team mates for their hazardous shot selections would be hard with his own form in the doldrums.

After scores of 13 and 65 in Brisbane, Cook was bowled for three by a searing delivery from Mitchell Johnson in the first innings.

The manner of his second innings dismissal, however, holing out for one when trying to hook the same bowler when his team desperately needed a captain's knock, has raised questions about his mental state and susceptibility to extreme pace.

Cook was Australia's chief tormentor in the 2010-11 Ashes series under captain Andrew Strauss, scoring 766 runs in his seven innings to help set up England's first win Down Under in a quarter of a century.